36 days & a lifetime of memories

I’m back! 2 weeks ago I came home to be greeted by the dreary grey skies of London. It has taken me that long to recover, to load up my photos and write up a diary of my trip. Photos will follow this post of my once in a lifetime holiday...

The Tour: A 36 day ‘European Adventurer’ which travelled through 17 countries: France, Spain, Italy, Greece & Greek Islands, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Netherlands and Belgium.

The Bus: Our tour manager was a guy called Urban, born in Germany but raised in Switzerland. He was such a great source of information, especially when we hit the Germany/Austria/Switzerland area because he has lived there his entire life. Our bus driver was an Australian guy called Lee, who managed to steer our massive bus through some of the trickiest roads I’ve ever seen (Albania – oh my god!). The bus had 2 theme songs; a morning song we played at the beginning of every day on the bus (‘Love Generation’ by Bob Sinclair) and a wake up song for when we were stopping and people needed to get up (‘Pump It’ by Black Eyed Peas).

The Group: Well we were called the P.B. (Party Bus) and apparently gained quite a reputation on the Contiki circuit for being such a wild group. Out of 49 people, there were 5Americans, 6 Canadians, 1 Kiwi and 37 Australians (I would say probably 30 of those were from Sydney too!). Everyone got along really well and by the end of the tour we were like a huge family. The bus rides were always interesting with quizzes, dancing in the aisles (when the bus became the D.B. - Disco Bus at night), karaoke and countless pranks being pulled on unsuspecting sleepers (including painting a guys toenails!). There was never a dull moment on board.

The Memories: What a whirlwind my 36 days on Contiki were! I can honestly say I enjoyed every second (well almost every second, minus the hungover ones) of my trip. I saw some amazing things and made some wonderful friends along the way. It would be impossible to talk about everything on my blog so I will try to make it into a condensed version. I will talk about my favourite memories from each country, which will be ordered the way we travelled through them. First was France…

France:
* Going to the Musee d’Oorsay (which I missed out on last time) and seeing the works of my favourite artist, Monet. I think this museum is better than the Louvre (I like impressionist art)! There was also Van Gogh, Renoir & Degas to see.
* Being creeped out by the Catacombes – an underground network of tunnels entirely constructed by the bones from 6 million bodies, as a result of not having enough space in graveyards.
* My favourite place on the whole trip – the French Riviera. Our entire bus gasped as we drove from Cannes to Monaco one night and saw the sun set – the ocean literally melts into the horizon.
* Walking into the ultra glitzy Grand Casino in Monte Carlo all dolled up, ordering a Cosmopolitan and turning around, only to hear the crunch of my high heel snapping (very Carrie from Sex & The City, as everyone told me). Had to spend the rest of the night walking around precariously on a broken stiletto!

Spain:
* A huge bunch of us going out to a club on the Barcelona marina and dancing the night away.
* Sitting in McDonalds incredibly hungover the morning afterwards and having possibly the funniest conversation ever with some of the girls!

Italy:
* Standing Juliet’s balcony in Verona and touching the breast of Juliet's statue (which is good luck apparently!).
* Taking a gondola ride in Venice, accompanied by a professional opera singer who was in the gondola ahead of us. It is such a charming place, I don’t know a single person who didn’t love it!
* Disappointed in Florence, expected the city to be a lot more beautiful and have more things on offer (that didn't involve a 4 hour queue like the Uffizi).
* Rome was another city I adored. So much to do! Will definitely go back, perhaps when its not over 40 degrees and searing hot! Made a wish at the Trevi Fountain, sat on the Spanish Steps and saw the Colosseum.
*Seeing Mt. Vesuvius and the Pompeii ruins, including bodies that have been cast into the ash from the volcano at the moment of death.

Greece
* Standing at the Acropolis and being able to see the entire city of Athens, including the original Olympic stadium.
* Going out to dinner with the whole Contiki group and running into Rick Ardon (Channel 7 newsreader) at the restaurant, then making an idiot of myself by saying to him ‘Hey you’re Rick Ardon!’ and having him laugh at me and reply ‘You must be from Perth!’.

Greek Islands
* Banana boating and jetskiing in Mykonos!!! Such an adrenaline rush, I want to buy a jet ski (along with a boat) when I settle in Perth. I didn’t realise how much I missed the ocean/water till I was here.
* Learning how to tie a toga for our Toga Party, only to have it fall apart before stepping outside! A few safety pins & one belt later and it managed to stick for the rest of the night.

Albania
* Being completely out of my comfort zone and seeing how poor parts of Europe can be including a toilet which was a hole in the ground (and yes, I used it without complaining unlike others!).
* Witnessing the crazy driving in this country where roads are full of massive pot holes with no lane markings
* All the Mercedes Benz cars on the roads (with lunatic drivers who obviously have a death wish)! The country is so poor, but so corrupt that almost every car is a Benz!

Montenegro
* Driving around the Black Mountain (which the country is named after) and seeing the gorgeous coastline.

Croatia
* Walking around the fortified walls of the entire old city of Dubrovnik and seeing a sea of orange tiled rooftops.

Austria
* White water rafting in a river that was not much more than 5 degrees and jumping in voluntarily!
* Running off the side of a mountain and paragliding down the Austrian Tirol.
* Eating the best roast chicken I have ever had at Martfest(I’m drooling at the very thought of it).
* One of the most emotional experiences of my life (and everyone elses on the bus) - going to Mauthausen concentration camp and walking through the grounds, including the gas chamber. Not a dry eye in sight on the bus afterwards.

Switzerland
* Getting to the top of Mt. Jungfrau (the highest point in Europe) to be greeted with a blizzard and almost zero visibility.
* Hearing all the cows (as we couldn't see them all due to cloud) and their bells ringing on the train ride up the mountain.
* Seeing snow again!

Germany
* Watching one of the guys on our tour (aptly nicknamed ‘The Keg’) drink an entire stein of beer (1 litre!) in 7.2 seconds. Had to be seen to be believed.
* Being amazed at how the waitresses in the beer halls in Munich can carry up to 20 glass steins at once without spilling a single drop!

Amsterdam
* Standing in Anne Frank’s house and seeing her actual diary & handwriting.
* Taking a canal bike ride and running into several of the moored boats along the way (so our steering was a little off that day).
* Seeing a live sex show (the Japanese tourists there were more interesting) and watching some of group get on stage and participate!

Pictures to come!